A roaring Page 1 headline about the Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center launched last Sunday’s news (“I don’t want to die here,” Aug. 9, TribLIVE). But when over 300 of the 400-plus residents first tested positive and 73 died in that facility, there were just modest reports, no giant headlines.
If residents of Brighton had been children instead of seniors, the owners of the facility would have been arrested and the elderly moved to hospitals, motels or nursing homes, or to their own families. But no — they were kept inside, and Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance or their own families paid a “monthly rate.” The owners kept getting rich while the seniors were at risk — not only at Brighton, but by the same owners in Monroeville as well.
Could the media be a greater help in the crisis? By research, interviews, photography, writing — show us the countries, cities, villages or families that have beat this thing. Show us the stories with happy endings.
We’ve become drugged — even addicted — to the daily report of “death,” “agony,” “job loss,” “risk.” By simply reporting these statistics, the press/broadcasters were among the few who made a profit during the crisis. Could they now help us out by revealing the places where there’s been a breakthrough, a success? Give us the news that will help us climb out of this.
Couldn’t you turn the negative news for us into positive help for the future?
Mary C. Blooming
Harrison